MEDIA RELEASE: 27 October 2016 POWERHOUSE PRODUCER BRUNA PAPANDREA CONFIRMED FOR THE 2016 SCREEN FOREVER CONFERENCE, MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA Screen Producers Australia is delighted to announce Australian born, US based producer Bruna Papandrea as one of the keynote speakers for SCREEN FOREVER 2016, the premier conference for the screen industry in Australia. Bruna Papandrea runs her own US and Australian film and television production company, Make Movies. Prior to that she launched and operated the production company PACIFIC STANDARD with Reese Witherspoon. With a strong focus on female driven content, Pacific Standard acquired and adapted into film the bestselling books WILD by Cheryl Strayed, starring Reese Witherspoon and directed by Jean Marc Vallee, and GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn, directed by David Fincher. WILD garnered two Oscar nominations and GONE GIRL has made over 300 million worldwide. They then produced the comedy HOT PURSUIT, starring Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara. Bruna Papandrea recently executive produced the limited series BIG LITTLE LIES starring Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern for HBO. Adapted by David E Kelly from the bestselling novel by Liane Moriarty and directed by Jean Marc Vallee, the series will debut in February 2017. Papandrea optioned the rights to WARM BODIES and produced the Summit Entertainment box office hit through her company MAKE MOVIES. Previously she was president of Michael London’s Groundswell Productions, and served as a producer at Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack’s Mirage Enterprises for a number of years. Papandrea's producing credits include Andrew Jarecki’s ALL GOOD THINGS, Noam Murro’s SMART PEOPLE and Jonathan Teplitzky’s BETTER THAN SEX. She also executive produced the highly acclaimed MILK from Gus Van Sant. "Bruna Papandrea has had an extraordinary career. Her talents and intelligence have attracted a number of the film world’s most successful people to work with her and these relationships have produced some of the finest films of the last 20 years. She has a great nose for a good story and a passion for telling more female driven stories. We are delighted to have her as a guest and to offer a platform for her to share her wisdom and experiences with Australian filmmakers.” said Matthew Deaner, CEO, Screen Producers Australia. Bruna Papandrea was born in the working class suburb of Elizabeth in Adelaide. Bruna Papandrea will speak at SCREEN FOREVER in Melbourne on Wednesday, 16 November, 2:30pm and will be on the panel of ABC Q&A’s SCREEN FOREVER special on Tuesday 15 November. SCREEN FOREVER 15 to 17 NoveMber 2016. Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne Australia. Register now at www.screenforever.org.au @Screen_Producer / #SCREENFOREVER - ends – Media enquiries: Miranda Brown – Miranda Brown Publicity | ph: 03 9419 0931 mob: 0411 568 781 | [email protected] SCREEN FOREVER is one of the largest congregations of screen professionals in the southern hemisphere, providing a forum for discussion and debate on local and global trends, issues and challenges facing the business of screen production. Past keynote speakers include Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead, Aliens, The Terminator); Dana Brunetti (House of Cards); Emile Sherman (The King’s Speech, Top of the Lake); Sydney Pollack (Tootsie); Ted Hope (21 Grams), David Puttnam, Kt, CBE (The Mission), Jon Plowman (The Office), Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) and George Lucas (Star Wars). .